Foto : Pixabay

When it comes to dinosaur discoveries, 2021 did not disappoint.

Like every year, researchers have described new species, specified their appearances and specified their habitats.

However, of a myriad of findings, there are some that stand out.

During the last century, paleontologists have found all kinds of dinosaur fossils - from bones and teeth to impressions of their skin and plumage - but never a year ... until 2021. Apparently it was used by the Psittacosaurus to defecate, urinate, reproduce and lay eggs, which differentiates it from the similar organs of other animals.

More than that,

details the abstract of the study published in January 2021 in Current Biology.

2. Some dinosaurs were extremely fast, but not T. rex

Theropod carnivores ran at speeds of almost 45 km / h, according to the analysis of two dinosaur tracks found in northern Spain, revealed a study published in December in the journal Scientific Reports.

The marks were left by two different individuals running on a soft lake bed during the early Cretaceous.

, Usain Bolt, who briefly reached 44.3 km / h in a race in 2009.

However, this was not the case with Tyrannosaurus rex, perhaps the most famous carnivore of all.

According to another study, published in April in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the king dinosaur walked alongside humans, at 5 km / h.

3.

The longest known dinosaur is the so-called Supersaurus, which exceeded 39 meters and possibly even reached 42 meters in length, according to unpublished research presented this year at the annual conference of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology.

The sauropod, discovered in 1972, was always known to be long, with previous estimates as high as 34 meters.

But now, freshly excavated and analyzed bones reveal just how long this dinosaur really was.

4. Tyrannosaurs fought but did not kill each other

Unsurprisingly, the fearsome tyrannosaurs fought each other, biting each other's faces for food, territory, or mating.

However, a careful analysis published in September in the journal Paleobiology reveals that they did not seek to kill themselves.

This understanding of the behavior of dinosaurs was made possible by studying 202 skulls and jaws of T. rex.

According to what was found, the depth and location of the tracks left indicate that they were not seeking to inflict fatal injuries.

Only half of the tyrannosaurs had these scars, so they are probably fighting between males over females.

5. A strange ankylosaur had a tail shaped like an Aztec war club.

Until now, ankylosaurs were known to live in the Northern Hemisphere with their impressive tails armed with beaks and clubs.

But now, the newly described Stegouros elengassen, found in Chile, shows that these reptiles evolved very differently in the southern hemisphere - they developed their own type of armed tail that looks like a macuahuitl, the recognizable Aztec sword.

The newly discovered ankylosaurus died more than 70 million years ago by a river, possibly in quicksand, which would explain why the specimen was so well preserved.

(Taken from Sputnik)

See also:

Dinosaur eggs discovered in the Arctic